SCAM ALERT….

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office issued a scam alert today to raise awareness of a scam currently in our area. The scam involves a phone call from someone pretending to be from the IRS. This scam has been ongoing for some time, but the frequency of the phone calls is on the rise with numerous complaints from intended victims coming in to the BCSO over that past three days.
The phone call appears to have a Washington DC area code such as 202. Other area codes commonly appearing are 707 (California) and 609 (New Jersey). This is because the scammers are using a computer or an altered cell phone to produce a ‘cloned’ number. Most of these calls actually originate outside the United States.
The caller claims to be from the IRS and wants to notify the intended victim they are behind in their federal taxes and this will result in local law enforcement coming to arrest them on a warrant issued by the IRS. The intended victim is then instructed to purchase green dot cards from a store and give the numbers on the back of the cards to the scammer, who can then access the money on the card. By paying this ‘fine’ the intended victim is assured they will avoid arrest.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office would like everyone to know the IRS does not make calls requesting personal information or payment to avoid arrest. Also, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office will not come to a home to arrest someone on a warrant issued by the IRS.
If you receive one of these calls please do not respond and hang up. Never give personal identification information to anyone over the phone. Since the elderly are often targeted by scammers, the public is urged to talk with elderly family members about the reality and frequency of scams through the mail and on the phone to prevent victimization.
Prepared by R. Corley  Information by Inv. P. Vecker December 04, 2014